My supervisor used the following 3-2-1 template with me. Scroll down and see if it helps you think about your professional performance this year:

3 Key Achievements: Identify and describe 3 major high points from your work this year. Share: o why is it an achievement giving specific examples o one competency that contribute to the achievement

For a start, despite being new to the school and unfamiliar with the students, I was able to rally the Primary 5 prefects to undertake two projects. They either helped out during the Teacher’s Day celebrations or gave kindergarten students a mini tour of the school campus. Secondly, when tasked to engage kindergarten students on a tour of our school’s hydroponics garden, I was able to make an indelible impression by concretizing my explanation of the pump system with cute water droplet cutouts. Lastly, I thought I imparted the mechanics of composition writing at a level that matched my students’ ability. Some students wouldn’t have passed their composition if it weren’t for my valiant efforts.

I think that I was able to achieve all this because I was empathetic to the needs of children and sensitive to the ways that would make learning click for them.

2 Challenges: Describe 2 key challenges you are currently addressing in your role. Share: o why this is a challenge o what have you done to address this challenge o any plans to overcome this challenge? Linking to competency

Managing my Foundation Science students is a handful. Although there are only 18 of them, the ruckus and chaos they create in my classes render learning quite ineffective. I’m getting better at exerting my domineering personality over them, but it seems to be a tall order to get them to retain key concepts and apply them. Another challenge that I face is the varied abilities and competencies of my Standard English students. If I pitch to the average student, I will alienate weak and high-progress students alike. Moreover, their attention span is devastatingly short. It seems that I can only get them to focus intently for 30 minutes for a lesson lasting for an hour. To this end, I am trying to come up with a comprehensive list of collocations that will span across domains (I.e. grammar MCQs, comprehension cloze passages, oral exam conversation) in hopes that they will internalise some of the things I have taught them.

My ego suffers a slight dent because it seems that my classroom management skills are inadequate. I remind myself that three teachers have so far refused to teach my Foundation Science students, so just surviving in the classroom without budging an inch should be considered a win!

I think I need to leverage my pedagogical skills so that I can adeptly use techniques and strategies that won’t cost my students an arm and a leg to focus and apply their energies on. This is a work in progress.

1 Area for Development: Identify 1 key competency you are actively working to improve. Consider the following: o why this competency o what actions you are taking to develop in this area o what are the impact so far o how can I support you in your development

Actively scanning through the past year papers to sieve out testing trends and generate a list of frequently tested topics and concepts. I believe doing so will boost my confidence in my classroom delivery, rendering me as unflappable as a superhero. After I have curated the exam-oriented content, I still need to brainstorm of effective ways for my students to encode it in their long-term memory. A professional teacher’s work is never done.